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WAMS - UK5 - Transparency Notice (TN)

Defence Equipment and Support

This public procurement record has 1 release in its history.

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22 Jul 2026 at 11:51

UK5 - Transparency Notice
Summary of the contracting process

Defence Equipment and Support, part of the UK Ministry of Defence, procured three Wrap Around Maintenance Staging (WAMS) units for F-35 Lightning II aircraft. WAMS is specialist fall-arrest and access equipment that follows the aircraft’s contours, allowing personnel to carry out inspection and maintenance work at height safely and in line with health and safety requirements. The requirement covers manufacturing and production of the staging, including compatible working-at-height assemblies and interchangeable modules. Delivery is for the United Kingdom. The goods fall within the category of aircraft passenger boarding stairs (CPV 34969200), although the equipment is specifically designed for F-35 maintenance rather than general passenger boarding. The procurement was structured as one lot and was identified as suitable for small and medium-sized enterprises.

This completed procurement used a direct award to Aviation Spares & Repairs Limited, with the award notice published on 22 July 2026. The award value is £370,000 excluding VAT and £444,444 including VAT. The contract period is 31 October 2026 to 31 October 2027, with signature scheduled for 31 October 2026. Defence Equipment and Support justified the direct award under Section 41 of the Procurement Act 2023, relying on additional or repeat goods and exclusive intellectual property rights. Aviation Spares & Repairs is the original equipment manufacturer from the 2018 competitive contract and holds the technical drawings, tools and expertise required. Compatibility and interchangeability were treated as essential, with no reasonable alternative identified.

This requirement indicates demand for highly specialised aircraft maintenance access equipment rather than standard staging. A credible future competitor would need the engineering capability to design and manufacture fall-arrest and access systems that closely match aircraft contours, together with strong working-at-height and health and safety knowledge. Demonstrable experience of producing equipment compatible with military aircraft, maintaining dimensional and operational consistency across modular assemblies, and supporting safe inspection and maintenance activities would be important. Control of, or lawful access to, the relevant technical drawings, tooling and intellectual property would be a significant commercial factor, because the buyer required compatibility with existing WAMS units. Suppliers would also need sufficient manufacturing capacity and quality assurance to produce multiple units as a consistent set.

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Notice Information

Notice Title

WAMS - UK5 - Transparency Notice (TN)

Notice Description

Wrap Around Maintenance Staging (WAMS) is a Fall Arrest and access system designed for use with UK F-35 air vehicles. It provides access for inspection and maintenance tasks, while providing fall arrest mitigating the risk while Working at Height on the Aircraft. Procurement involves the manufacturing of three WAMS units.

Procurement Information

The Lightning Delivery Team (LDT), part of the UK Ministry of Defence, intends to award a contract to Aviation Spares & Repairs (ASR) Ltd for the manufacture and production of Wrap Around Maintenance Staging (WAMS) to enable maintenance activities on the Lightning II aircraft (F-35). The contract will be for a term of 1 year and have an estimated value of PS370K (Exclusive of VAT). It is considered that this contract can be awarded under Section 41 of the Procurement Act 2023 because the direct award justification specified in paragraph 7 of Schedule 5 (Additional or repeat goods, services or works) applies. Working at Height equipment (WAMS) is required to allow the Lightning workforce to conduct aircraft maintenance activity safely and in line with Health & Safety (H&S) regulations. The staging must closely follow the contours of the aircraft due to H&S regulations so generic staging is not suitable or appropriate. The original contract for WAMS was awarded to ASR Ltd via competition in 2018 under DSPCR 2011. As a result, ASR Ltd is the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) of the WAMS and has exclusive Intellectual Property (IP) rights to the technical drawings required to manufacture the staging. Only the OEM has the required technical drawings, tools, knowledge and expertise to manufacture staging that is compatible with the aircraft. An unforeseen requirement for additional WAMS aircraft staging units has now arisen, to meet a need to expand concurrent maintenance activities. Compatibility across all the working at height assemblies is required so that the WAMS modules can be used interchangeably and allow flexibility across the capability. A different solution would result in two different sets of incompatible staging being used simultaneously, and the incompatibilities would create disproportionate technical difficulties in the operation and maintenance of the two sets of staging, therefore there are no reasonable alternatives.

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-06d0b1
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/069094-2026
Current Stage
Award
All Stages
Award

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
UK5 - Transparency Notice
Procurement Type
Standard
Procurement Category
Goods
Procurement Method
Direct
Procurement Method Details
Direct award
Tender Suitability
SME
Awardee Scale
SME

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

34 - Transport equipment and auxiliary products to transportation

CPV Codes

34969200 - Passenger boarding stairs for aircraft

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
Not specified
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
£370,000 £100K-£500K
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
22 Jul 20262 months ago
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
Not specified
Award Date
Not specified
Contract Period
31 Oct 2026 - 31 Oct 2027 1-2 years
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

Tender Status
Complete
Lots Status
Complete
Awards Status
Pending
Contracts Status
Not Specified

Buyer & Supplier

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
Defence Equipment and Support
Contact Name
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Email
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Phone
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →

Buyer Location

Locality
BRISTOL
Postcode
BS34 8JH
Postcode Area
Bristol
Country
England
Major Region (ITL 1)
TLK South West (England)
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLK5 West of England
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLK52 Bath & North East Somerset and South Gloucestershire
Delivery Location
Not specified
Local Authority
South Gloucestershire
Electoral Ward
Stoke Park & Cheswick
Westminster Constituency
Filton and Bradley Stoke

Supplier Information

Number of Suppliers
1
Supplier Name

Aviation Spares and Repairs Limited

Further Information

Notice Documents

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

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The Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS) is a framework designed to increase transparency and access to public procurement data in the public sector. It is widely used by governments and organisations worldwide to report on procurement processes and contracts.

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